My State of the Union Wish List

I don’t have tremendously high expectations for tonight’s State of the Union address regarding higher education, given the priority placed on other topics such as social mobility and potentially even foreign affairs. However, I would be thrilled if President Obama and/or the small army of Republicans responding touched on any of the three following items:

(1) Don’t make grand claims on fixing the rising burden of student loan debt.While student loan debt has crossed $1 trillion, it’s unclear whether any of the proposals out there would seriously help students after they leave college—let alone encourage students to attend college. Last year’s fight over interest rates was an example of tinkering around the edges. The push for so-called “Pay it Forward” plans might help, but these plans are a long way from enrolling students and may have adverse consequences. I encourage the President and Republicans to bring up these ideas, but don’t overpromise here.

(2) Talk about access to college for more than just high-achieving, low-income students. The recent White House summit on these students is a nice PR push,but will do little to improve college access. Most of these students are going to college somewhere, although some are attending less-selective institutions. As Matt Chingos at Brookings notes, focusing on the problem of “undermatching” won’t move the college completion margin in any substantial way. Focus on trying to increase college access for more than just the small number of very well-prepared students.

(3) Don’t overpromise on college ratings. While the push for federal ratings is moving forward this year, these ratings won’t be released for at least several more months. And once the ratings get released, there is no guarantee that students use the ratings in any meaningful way (although it’s possible). Additionally, tying aid to ratings takes an act of Congress and won’t happen during the current administration. Keep plugging forward on the ratings work, but don’t make them sound like the solution to all of our problems.

I’m looking forward to the speech tonight, and please send along your wish list through either the comments section or via Twitter!

Robert Kelchen, an assistant professor of higher education in the Department of Education Leadership, Management, and Policy at Seton Hall University, is data manager of the Washington Monthly College Guide.